Dale Patrick Chihuly

Chihuly, Dale Patrick (chĭhōˈlē) [key] 1941–, American glass artist, b. Tacoma, Wash.; grad. Univ. of Washington, Seattle (B.A., 1965), Rhode Island School of Design (RISD; M.F.A., 1967), Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison (M.S., 1967). Probably the foremost figure in the contemporary art-glass movement, Chihuly experimented with the medium while an undergraduate and studied the glassblower's art at a Venetian glass studio (1968). He founded (1969) the glass department at RISD, taught there for 11 years, and in 1971 established the influential Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle. Extremely prolific, Chihuly (working with a crew of technicians) creates glass sculptures in a rainbow of colors, sometimes opaque, translucent, or iridescent; and in an astonishing variety of semiabstract shapes, including baskets, sea and flower forms, globes, stumps, cylinders, and hanging garlands. His works range from miniatures to large architectural installations, such as the celebrated pieces in Chihuly over Venice (1996) and the works on the Bridge of Glass (2002) at the Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art in Tacoma, Wash.